Are the HP Dv6 laptops a steal or a scam?

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Dominus Anulorunm

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Hp is relasing a new line of dv6 laptops soon. They will have ivy bridge (or at least a quad core sandy bridge and either a 630m or 650m gpu for around $750, all in a good looking chassis with four speakers and a subwoofer. It does not sound too bad to me. If I buy it, I would upgrade the hdd to 7200rpm, if it is not there already, the gpu to a 650m, and the ram to 6gb (if it is not already there). Based on previous pricing options. this will probably raise the price to $800-$850, which will go down by about 10% since I am a student. HP also offers frequent coupons. The laptops weighs five pounds and will probably have five to six hours of battery life. Is it a good deal, or too much for the specs? (First thread here, by the way.)
 
Hi and welcome!

I've had an overclocked A8 with crossfire 7750 DV6 for a while (see sig), and I like it a lot. The chasis looks really good with a brushed bronze aluminium look. The leds are in the wierdest places though, ergonomics is not it's strongest point. Also, watch out for screen resolutions... Sound is still tinny, but way above average.

If the new ones are similar to the older models, I'd recommend them.
 
They are probably one of the better deals right now to be honest. The 7690M option is a great GPU for the money and make them great machines for 720p gaming. I hear they will soon offer a 7750M that will compare to a mid-level desktop card too, in the next generation of DV6.

Overall, Ivy Bridge, on the CPU side, isnt that big of a deal. Its the GPUs that really matter for gaming, and from what we have seen, the only GPUs worth getting excited about are the 640/650/660/680M (The others are Re-badges of the 500 series). Also.. the new CGN AMD parts are on the horizon too.

But again.. the Bargain DV6 Laptops are a great deal with just a couple of the upgrades HP offers.
 
No HP laptop is a "scam", though I suppose that might be a difference in semantics. The Dv series offers pretty great value. They aren't the best build quality, but good enough. It really comes down to what you value most in a laptop.

It's a bit early to determine how the price is related to performance relative to competitors since none are actually on the market. We don't even really know for sure how much better the Ivy Bridge CPUs are than the Sandy Bridge. But I do think waiting is a good idea.

Here are a few links you might find helpful.
This is a short thread discussing the current build quality of Dv6t relative to gaming.
This is a long thread discussing the new HP Ivy Bridge models.
 
I think the dv6 will only come with a 630M and a 1368x768 screen. It's the dv7 that will have the 650M and 1080p screen.

Still, the dv7 interests me quite a bit, since the GT 650M is on par with the GTX560M... probably able to play most games on max settings on native res.
 
viralcow said:
I think the dv6 will only come with a 630M and a 1368x768 screen. It's the dv7 that will have the 650M and 1080p screen.

Still, the dv7 interests me quite a bit, since the GT 650M is on par with the GTX560M... probably able to play most games on max settings on native res.
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If the older dv6's are of any indication they will come with 1080 screens and most likely 650m
 
How are the existing HP laptops with heat when you're gaming. From what I've seen they're pricing is definitely aggressive with the hardware they're providing. I've been watching a 15" 1080p that was being sold on Newegg but its always out of stock. Still impressive hardware for the price in comparison to the competition. At this point kinda waiting around until summer to see what the new line brings to the table.
 
Chimay said:
How are the existing HP laptops with heat when you're gaming. From what I've seen they're pricing is definitely aggressive with the hardware they're providing. I've been watching a 15" 1080p that was being sold on Newegg but its always out of stock. Still impressive hardware for the price in comparison to the competition. At this point kinda waiting around until summer to see what the new line brings to the table.
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My temps have never gone in the red but if the laptop was in my lap it could keep me warm on a cold night. But you would have a hard time gaming on a laptop sitting in your lap.

Mine is an i7 with a 6770m
 
When I use just the integrated A8 gpu for gaming it just slightly warms up. When I crossfire the gpus.... She be hot alright, but the fan pushes a lot of air & the albeit very thin, aluminium sheet dissipates a good amount of heat also. I can game for hours on my overclocked laptop without a chill pad comfortably.
 
Thanks y'all for the replies. I have checked around on the internet more and the new DV6 will come standard with the lower screen res and gpu, but can be upgraded to the next tier. I just wish I knew the price! They where supposed to be available for sale on the 8th of April, but that did not happen and is probably do to ivy bridge delays. I hope they will be offering a trinity model as well, for comparison purposes.
 
HPs consumer line has pretty cheap build quality... every HP consumer laptop (pavilion) has had the hinge crap out in about a year... their business class stuff is as good as the thinkpads though
 
Dominus Anulorunm said:
Thanks y'all for the replies. I have checked around on the internet more and the new DV6 will come standard with the lower screen res and gpu, but can be upgraded to the next tier. I just wish I knew the price! They where supposed to be available for sale on the 8th of April, but that did not happen and is probably do to ivy bridge delays. I hope they will be offering a trinity model as well, for comparison purposes.
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Look at the cost to upgrade right now, it will most likely stay the same. Base ivy bridge i5 w/ GT630m, 4gb cheapo ram, 5400 rpm 640gb HDD, 13x7 screen, etc. etc. will probably be 800.

IB i5, GT 650M (1gb GDDR5), 6-8 gb of still cheapo ram, 7200 RPM 750gb HDD and a 1080p screen will most likely run $1100.

I got mine with a 33% discount on all consumer HP laptops over $1000. HP consumer design does feel cheap, has some give to the plastic but I like the look, very easy to dismantle and is probably a notch ahead the rest OEM laptop makers in consumer build quality(for the price).
 
It is odd that you mention the build quality as cheap. All the reviews I have checked (and I have checked four or five) praise the build quality as one of its strong points and some say it is as good as a business laptop.
 
Dominus Anulorunm said:
It is odd that you mention the build quality as cheap. All the reviews I have checked (and I have checked four or five) praise the build quality as one of its strong points and some say it is as good as a business laptop.
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I have many business class hp laptops at work, while the dv6 isnt horrible its not in the same league.

As I mentioned in the previous quote, in the price range the build quality is the best. HP did put a stupid lip on the back of my laptop that im apparently supposed to pick it up by, but im not trusting it :D.
 
Ah, I see what you mean. It is mostly metal, which is impressive for a sub $1000 laptop. If I could afford it, I would buy the Envy. I know the color is weird, but that can be fixed with calibration and not many laptops have IPS screens. Just as a side comment, HP build quality has significantly improved over the past few years. I used to hate their laptops. Now I actually like them more than most of the competitors. Of course, they did completely steal the macbook look.
 
I have a dv6 from black Friday a little over a year ago and it's been great. It's basically been a portable Blu-Ray player so it's seen a lot of road time. It doesn't have a single ding, dent, loose hinge, or anything wrong with it. I was skeptical because it was my first HP laptop but it's been great. The brushed aluminum looks good too.
 
Dominus Anulorunm said:
Ah, I see what you mean. It is mostly metal, which is impressive for a sub $1000 laptop. If I could afford it, I would buy the Envy. I know the color is weird, but that can be fixed with calibration and not many laptops have IPS screens. Just as a side comment, HP build quality has significantly improved over the past few years. I used to hate their laptops. Now I actually like them more than most of the competitors. Of course, they did completely steal the macbook look.
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Hehe I know exactly what you mean. It used to be Dell laptops had the same quality all through their entire line up which was pretty much spotless with HP laptops being built out of cardboard boxes. Now its completely opposite, even though Dell build quality isn't the worst it certainly isn't what it used to be.

Envy build quality is just plain awesome, I wish I could afford one too. Its a rip off of the MBP sure, but the MBP stole one of the IBM's platform designs as well. I wouldn't get too hung up on who copied who though as all are pretty awesome designs and we got a win out of this for sure.
 
In comparing the build quality of my dv6 to my thinkpad, I would dock marks for the dv6's chicklet keyboard, annoying led & power plug placements. The hinges are not up to Thinkpad quality, but so far are above average (Acer for example) for consumer class.
 
Dominus Anulorunm said:
Ah, I see what you mean. It is mostly metal, which is impressive for a sub $1000 laptop. If I could afford it, I would buy the Envy. I know the color is weird, but that can be fixed with calibration and not many laptops have IPS screens. Just as a side comment, HP build quality has significantly improved over the past few years. I used to hate their laptops. Now I actually like them more than most of the competitors. Of course, they did completely steal the macbook look.
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The calibration only helps a bit. There is a hardware problem with the IPS screen on the Envy 15. I have the first gen Envy 14; good build, great screen. Ordered the 15 and also good build, great features but it went back to HP in a few days as I couldn't tolerate HardOCP showing up in blazing orange! Hoping they can work that out in the next refresh. The IPS screen was great aside from the color resolution thing.
 
tordogs said:
The calibration only helps a bit. There is a hardware problem with the IPS screen on the Envy 15. I have the first gen Envy 14; good build, great screen. Ordered the 15 and also good build, great features but it went back to HP in a few days as I couldn't tolerate HardOCP showing up in blazing orange! Hoping they can work that out in the next refresh. The IPS screen was great aside from the color resolution thing.
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Kind of funny this is mentioned, I'm trying to find the 1080 screen to upgrade my DV6 as I ordered the 728 =(.

I hear the matted 1080 screen offered for the Dv6 is an IPS? or another type of LCD.
 
Trimlock said:
Kind of funny this is mentioned, I'm trying to find the 1080 screen to upgrade my DV6 as I ordered the 728 =(.

I hear the matted 1080 screen offered for the Dv6 is an IPS? or another type of LCD.
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Have almost hijacked the OP thread but I believe the 1080 screen in the Dv6 is a good quality TN panel, not IPS. It can display proper reds unlike the Envy 15 IPS screen. If you are looking at HP laptops at all try to hold off for a bit. They will be refreshing the current models soon with Ivy Bridge processors and better graphics and are expected to release a couple of new Envy models. Overall the Envy series has been quite decent for the cost and I plan on trying another one when they get models/refreshes sorted out (and I get a few user reviews!). Would link you to the forum I follow daily about them but not sure that is allowed by HardForum rules.
 
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tordogs said:
Have almost hijacked the OP thread but I believe the 1080 screen in the Dv6 is a good quality TN panel, not IPS. It can display proper reds unlike the Envy 15 IPS screen. If you are looking at HP laptops at all try to hold off for a bit. They will be refreshing the current models soon with Ivy Bridge processors and better graphics and are expected to release a couple of new Envy models. Overall the Envy series has been quite decent for the cost and I plan on trying another one when they get models/refreshes sorted out (and I get a few user reviews!). Would link you to the forum I follow daily about them but not sure that is allowed by HardForum rules.
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Don't think the OP cares, pretty sure the poster was already satisfied.

TN panels are almost preferred though, good color, no glare, doesn't fry the eyeballs...

Not sure when Ivy Bridge Mobile is hitting the market, but Southern Islands and Kepler Mobile parts are hitting already. The GPU's are probably going to give you the best upgrade in performance for laptops over IB, since we aren't supposed to see much of a power increase with IB. Kepler and SI both give power efficiency increases and much much better performance per core.
 
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